Ship bumper



I ec. 24, 1946. B M 2,413,210 I SHIP BUMPER Filed Feb. 12, 1945 Patented Dec. 24, 1946 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHIP BUMPER Paul F. BlackmanfLos Nietos, Calif. Application February 12,1945, Serial No. 577,429

6 Claims.

This invention relates to .a boat tender, and more particularly to fenders for boats and the like which will prevent or eliminate chafing between, for example, two .boatssecured side by side or'between a boat and a pier.

One object of the invention is to provide a fender of the character herein disclosed which will afford a cushioning effect between .two boats or a boat and a pier as the case maybe.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fender which will protect the boat sides by a rolling action of the fender between the boat and an adjacent boat or pier.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fender of the character herein disclosed which will resist destruction due to pressure, is simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture, has a lone life, and which will be recoverable due to its buoyancy should the fender fall free into the water.

Various other objects and advantageous features of the invention will be had from the following description and the accompanying drawing wherein like characters of references designate corresponding parts, and wherein: V

Figure 1 is a vertical side elevation of a boat fender embodying this invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the boat fender shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the boat fender shown in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing, wherein is shown one embodiment of this invention, the boat fender consists of a plurality of annular resilient ringlike members i, placed one upon the other to form a stack. These annular resilient ring-like members I may consist of old or new automobile tires or the like, or may be especially made so long as the portions thereof adjacent the outer circumference are relatively heavy as at 2, and the inner portions 3 thereof gradually decrease in thickness so that they may be squeezed together forming air pocket 4 in the center of each member.

The stacked members I are held together to form a unit by means of wire or other type cables 5 which are threaded transversely through the members I, as shown in Figure 3, from the top to the bottom of the stack. If desired, washers (not shown) may be provided at each of the units I in such position as to protect the units from being injured by the cables 5 passing therethrough, and thimbles 6 are provided at each end of the stack to surround the cables 5 and avoid injury by the cables 5 to the top and bottom units I of the stack.

After the stack consisting of a plurality of units I has been formed, a flexible sheet 1 is positioned at one end of the stack to close the hollow center thereof, this sheet being disposed between the free ends of the end unit I and threaded on the cables 5 so that the sheet will be held in such position as to form a closure for one end of the hollow center of the stack formed by the units I. Then, the hollow center portion of the stack is filled with kapok, wood shavings or other buoyant material I2 andanother flexible sheet I positioned at the theretofore open end of the hollow center portion of the stack to efiectively close such open end and retain the buoyant material within the center of the stack.

The cables 5, after being drawn to sufiicient tautness to hold the various elements of the fender in assembled relation, have their free ends secured together by means of clamps 8, and a loop 9 is formed in substantially the center of the assembled device by means of other clamps III. These loops 9 hold rings II, by means of which the fender may be secured to a rope or other means for lowering the fender into position between the side of the boat and an adjacent boat or pier. As shown, the cables 5 are positioned so as to form a securing and supporting means at each eighty degree position around the annular fender. However, this arrangement may be varied if desired.

Referring to the drawings and the preceding description, it will be seen that there is provided a boatfender havin numerous novel features and advantages. For example, an annular boat fender is provided which will have a rolling action between a boat side and an adjacent object rather than a sliding action. Likewise the more wear resistant portion of the fender is at the outer perimeter where the greatest wear due to abrading action occurs. The air spaces 4 in each of the units I provide for an increased cushioning action in the fender, and the buoyant material I2 provides for recovery of the fender in the event of breaking of the rope or cable by which the fender is slung into position to protect the boats side and the fender falling into the water by causing the fender to float.

Having fully described my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, but my invention is of the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A boat fender comprising a plurality of annular resilient ring-like members disposed one above the other to form a stack, each of said ring-like members having a hollow interior forming an air space, a buoyant filler for the spaces formed between inner circumferences of the ringlike members, a closure for retaining such buoyant material within such central space, and means for securing such members and said closure together including cables threaded transversely through the ring-like members and the closure and extending from one end to the other of the stack.

2. A boat fender comprising a plurality of annular resilient ring-like members disposed one above the other to form a stack, each of said ring-like members having a hollow interior forming an air space, and means for securing such members together, said last named means including a cable threaded transversely through each of said members and extending from one end to the other of said stack, said cables extending normal to the longitudinal axis of the stack and across the ends of the stack to provide means for attaching a supporting cable to the fender.

3. A boat fender comprising a plurality of annular resilient ring-like members disposed one above the other to form a stack, each of said ring-like members having a hollow interior to form an air space, a buoyant filler for the space formed by the hollow central portions of such stacked ring-like members, and means for securing the ring-like members together.

4. A boat fender comprising a plurality of annular resilient ring-like members disposed one above the other to form a stack, each of said ring-like members having a hollow interior to form an air space, a buoyant filler for the space formed by the hollow central portions of such stacked ring-like members, means for securing the ring-like members together, and means for retaining the buoyant material within such central space.

5. A boat fender comprising a plurality of annular resilient ring-like members having hollow interiors disposed one above the other to form a stack, such ring-like members having their greatest thickness at their outer circumference, a buoyant filler for the space formed by the inner circumferences of said ring-like members, and means for securing the ring-like members together into a unit.

6. A boat fender comprising a plurality of annular resilient ring-like members having hollow interiors disposed one above the other to form a stack, such ring-like members having their greatest thickness at their outer circumference, a buoyant filler for the space formed by the inner circumferences of said ring-like members, means for securing the ring-like members together into a unit, and means for retaining the buoyant material within such central space.

PAUL F. BLACKMAN. 

